Mud-catcher for filters.



N0. 629,94I. Patented Allg.4 |899.

L. wANNER, 1n. MUD vGATIIIIIEE FUR FILTERS.

{Ho Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet l,

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No. 629,94L Patented Aug. I, |899.

` L. WANNER, In.

mml cATcHER Fon FILTERS.

Application i'lsd Sept. 6, 1898.)

(No llndel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

INI/ENTR I M/AES J/MM] MQ MQ W7 A ORNEY No. 629,94l. Panama Aug. l,|899."

L. wANNEn, n.

VIMI!) BATGHEB F08 FILTERS.

(Application med Sept. 6, 1898.)

(No Nudel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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UNITED STATES 'PATENT rricn.

LOUIS `WVANNER, JR., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MUD-CATCHER FOR FILTERS.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 629,941, dated August1, 1899.

Application filed September 6,1898. Serial No. 690,333. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS WANNER, Jr., a citizen of the United States,residing at Philaf delphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMudCatchers for Filters, of which the following is a speciication,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to construct a mud-catcher to be used inconnection with the lter patented September 28, 1897, No.

590,868, forthe purpose of separating the mud and other heavy inorganicmatter from the Water before it enters the filter proper.

Experience having shown that mud and other heavy inorganic mattercontained in the water clogs up the holes in the upper perforated yplate of the filter and of the wire-gauze on the same, that this mudland other matter gets only partly removed when the filter is beingcleansed, as shown in the patent drawings for this lter, and that,further, in spite of the upward pressure and motion of the Water duringthe process of cleansing'the lter a part of the mud and vother similarmatter will settle down and into the filling ofthe upper section of thefilter, I have found it advisable to omit the upper perforated platewith wiregauze and spider on the upper section ofthe said filter asbeing detrimental to the perfect working of the same and to replace thispart of the lter with a'separate mud-catcher.

A further object of the invention of a sep- Y arate mud-catcherrelatesto the peculiar construction which allows it to be cleaned sepa'-rately without interfering with the working of the ilter during thistime.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l, Sheet l, is a vertical sectionalView of the mud-catcher proper on line XXof Fig; 3, Sheet 2, and thepiping and valves belonging to the same. Fig. 2, Sheet 2, is atransverse section on line Y Y of Fig. 3, the lid H4, hand hole coverH2, and the gaskets O and O' shown elevated above the body. Fig. 3 is atop view of the mud-catcher proper,- the lower half with the lidremoved.Figi/l, Sheet 3, is a vertical sectional 'View of the mud-catcher andfilter combined.

H, Sheet 3, isthe mud-catcher, consisting of the body H', Sheets l and2, in the present instance made of cast-iron in one piecewith the angesH2 and the feet H2, the lid H4 with the hand-hole l-l5 and the hand-holecover'H, the perforated partition-plates Nl N2 N2, the reinforcementsHTHB H9 for the inlet, the outlet,lan,d the clean-out pipe. In thepresent instance the lid, hand-hole cover, and the perforatedpartition-plates are all made of cast-iron.

N4 are lugs or ribs cast in one piece with the body H and have thepurpose of holding the perforated partition-plates N' N2 N3 in place.The latter are removable from the body of the mud-catcher, being castseparately.

N5 are 'lugs or ribs on the underside of the lid H4 and help to keep theperforated partition-plates N N2 N 2 in place.

O and O' are washers or gaskets made of rubber, leather, lead, or someother suitable material. O is inserted between the flanges H2 of thebody and the lid H4, the latter be ing fastened down by means of thebolts and nuts H10. 0 is inserted between the lid H4 and the hand-holecover HG, the latter being fastened down by means of the tap-screws H11.

The holes in the perforated partition-plates Nf-N2 N2 are countersunk orfunnel-shaped on one side, the funnel-shaped side showing toward theinlet-chamber K'.

K' and K2 are the water chambers or reservoirs.

The spaces L and L2 are filled with filtering material capable ofseparating the 'mnd and 'other' heavy inorganic matter from the waterwhen it Vpasses through the same under pressure. Inv the presentinstance L is 'filled with vslag-grits and L2 with Sponges well pressed-into the space L2. Inv Figs. 2 andl, Sheet 2, the filling ofthechambers L and'L2 is omitted for the purpose of better illustratingthe construction of the mudcatcher.

P" and P2 are sections of the inlet-pipe with inlet-valve V.

P5 and P7 are the by-pass pipes with bypass valve V2. p

P3 P6 P8 are the supplypipes to with the supply-valve V2.

P10 P4 PV3 are the return-pipes from the filter with return-valve V4. i

P9 is the cleanout pipe with clean-out valve V5 and strainer Q.

the lter D6 is the house supply-pipe from the filter v to the house.

All pipes Iare of standard dimensions, their IOO diameter depending uponthe size of the mudcatcher and filter. r1`he connections are of standardpatterns, consisting of elbows and Ts. The valves in the presentinstance are gate-valves; but it is obvious that any wellconstructedkind of valve may be used for the purpose.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views, andthe letters referring to the filter proper are the same as on the patentdrawings for the said filter patented September 28, 1897.

The Working of the filter proper being fully explained in thespecification for the same and illustrated by the diagram Sheet 3 of thePatent No. 590,868, dated September 28, 1897, I confine myself here tothe explanation of the working of the mud-catcher in connection with thefilter.

The appliance of the mud-catcher is as follows: As the filter andmud-catcher can only be used'when the water-supply has a sufficientpressure, beit from a city water-supply, from elevated tank, orotherwise, it is well understood that the water must enter theinlet-pipe under pressure, and the explanation of the working of themud-catcher and filter are based upon this assumption.

(A) When the valves V and V3 are open and the valves V2 V4 V5 closed,the water will pass through the inlet-pipes P P2 into the inlet-chamberK'. In this inlet-chamber K the body of water assumes the total area ofthe transverse section of the mud-catcherv and will be driven throughthe perforated plates N3 N2 N and the fillings in L and L2 with the samepressure per square inch as it entered the inlet-pipe P', thesupply-pipe P3 having the same section as P. The fillings of the chamberL and L2 will retain the mud and other heavy inorganic substances fromthe water, and it will pass into the supplychamber K2 in apartly-filtered condition. From the supply-chamber K2 the water willpass through the supply-pipes P3 PG Ps into the supply-pipe of thefilter, thus allowing the use of the filter as shown on the diagramSheet 3 in all figures.

(B) Vhen the valve V2 is open and the valves V' VSV4 V5 are closed, thewater will not enter the mud-catcher, but will pass from the inlet-pipeP through the by-pass pipes P5 P7 into the supply-pipe P8 and thefilter-supply pipe, thus allowing the use of the filter as shown on thediagram Sheet 3 in all figures.

(O) When the valves V2 V4 V5 are open and the valves V V3 closed, thewater will pass through the by-pass pipes P5 P7 into the supply-pipe P8and the filter-supply pipe, allowing the use of the filter as shown onthe diagram Sheet 3 in Fig. 12 of the patent drawings for the filter.The water will pass through the valve in the ybottom outlet-pipe of thefilter into DX, and as the pipe D'i is shut off through the spigots inthe house it must pass through the pipes P4 P2into the ,mnd-catcher,will wash the same out with ltered water,

and carry all the mud and other heavy inorganic substances which werecontained in the water through the clean-out pipes P9.

(D) When the valves V' V4 are open and the valves V2 V3 V5 closed, theWater will enter and pass the mud-catcher, as shown above under A, butwill pass through the pipes P2 P4 into the part D of pipe D, thusallowing the use of the filter as shown on the diagram Sheet 3 of thepatent drawings for the filter in all figures except Fig. 12.

(E) Vhen the valves V2 V3 V5 are open and the valves V4 V5 d d2 d4closed, the Water will pass from the inlet-pipe P through the bypass andsupply pipes P5 P7 P6 P3 into the mud-catcher, will wash the same outwith unfiltered water, and carry the mud and other heavy inorganicmatter which was contained in the water through the clean-out pipe P9.

As the opening for clean-out pipe P9 is at the bottom of themud-catcher, it is obvious that all the muddy and other heavy residue ofthe water can be removed by washing out, which in the filter asconstructed and shown in the drawings for the Patent No. 590,868gradually permeated the filling of the upper section of the same,because of the characteristic of such residue to settle downward, evenin a mass of water' moving upward, unless the latter should have a greatvelocity and be unencumbered by any obstacles, such as the upperperforated plate and gauze sheet in the filter.

In the present instance I have specified the filling of the space L withslag-grits and of L2 with sponge,although there is a number of othersuitable materials-as sand, charcoal, bone-black, and others-which maybe applied for the same purpose.

Having discovered another filtering material the nature and compositionof which I am at present not desirous to divulge nor to have secured byLetters Patent, it may be desirable to use the same as a filling in themudcatcher. This, as well as the local conditions where thefilteringapparatus, consisting of mud-catcher and filter, is to beinstalled, the pressure and chemical condition of the water to befiltered, as well as the amount of solid matter contained in the same,may necessitate an increase or a decrease in the number of chambers inthe mud-catcher, although the construction shown in the drawings andspecified hereinabove will be the standard construction.

For filters of large dimensions or for filtering plants consisting oftwo or more filters, or Where a constant supply of thoroughly-filteredwater is required, it may be necessary to use a battery of a number ofmud-catchers, thus allowing part of the same to be cleansedwiththoroughly-filtered water, while the others supply the partly-filteredwater to the filter or filters. These batteries may-consist of singlemud-catchers connected withthe supply and clean-out pipes by separatebranch pipes and valves, allowing each to be operated singly segeln gand independently of the others. Such batteryinstead of using singlemud-catchers may consist of a number of mnd-catchers combined in onebody separated by common walls or plates, the latter having theprovisions for holding the perforated plates on either side. It isfurther obvious that the shape of the body of the mud-catcher is notessential for the principle of its application and that especially Wherebatteries of such are used the shape of the bodies, Whether single orcombined in one, may be made high and narrow to save space. The bottomof the mud catcher or catchers, although shown curved in the drawings,may j ust as well be constructed flat, with proper grade toward thestrainer of the cleanout pipe or pipes. F urther, altho ugh the m udcatcher is designed and intended to be used in connection with a filteror filters, there may be cases-as for industrial purposes, forinstance-Where it is sufficient to deprive the Water merely of theimpurities which can be separated from the same bythe mud-catcher alone.In such cases it rwould merely require the use of a mnd-catcher or abattery of mudcatchers without any other filter in connection with thesame.

What I claim as my invention, Aand desire 'to secure by Letters Patent,is the following:

l. The combination in a mud-catcher of a body with lid, hand-hole andhand-hole cover,

said body separated into compartments byA perforated partition-plates,some of the compartmeuts filled with filtering material, a valved inletat one end, a valved supply-ontlet at the other end, a valved clean-outpipe with strainer at the bottom and a valved bypass, all substantiallyas set forth and described.

2. The combination in a mud-catcher for a filter, of a body with lid,hand-hole and handhole cover, separated into compartments by perforatedpartition-plates, some of the cornpartments filled with filteringmaterial, a

valved inlet-pipe at one end, a supply-outlet at the other, connectingwith the inlet-pipe of a filter by one Valve and with the outletpipe ofa filter by another valve, a valved clean-out pipe with strainer at thebottom and a valved by-pass, connectingthe inletpipe directly, with theinlet-pipe of a filter,V

all substantially as set forth and described.

3. The combination in a mud-catcher of a body closed with a removablelidahand-hole With removable hand-hole cover, removable perforatedpartition-plates, kept in place by lugs or ribs projecting from thebottom and sides of the body; and from the under side of the lid, theholes of the perforated partition-plates countersnnk or funnel-shaped onone or both sides, the perforated partitionplates dividing themud-catcher into a number of compartments, the outer or end compartmentsbeing water chambers or reservoirs, one connected with the valvedinletpipe and the other with the valved outletpipe, the innercompartments filled with iiltering material and one of them connectedwith a valved clean-out pipe with strainer at the bottom of themud-catcher, all substantially as set forth and described.

4. The combination in a mud-catchermade up of a body with lid,hand-hole, hand-hole cover, divided into four compartments, by removableperforated partition-plates, the two outer compartment-s beingwater-chambers, one provided with a threaded reinforcement for a valvedinlet-pipe, the other provided With a threaded reinforcement for a.valved outlet-pipe, the water-chambers distributing the Water enteringthe mud-catcher so as to -pass through the two inner chambers with aneven pressure' throughout the whole area of the perforatedpartition-plates, the larger inner compartment nearer to the inletwater-chamber, filled with slag-grits, the other inner compartment,nearer to the outlet Water chamber illedwith Sponges,

`inner chamber, filled with slag-grits, for a valved clean-ont pipe andstrainer, all substantially as set forth and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. LOUIS WANNER, JR.

Witnesses:

Guo. H. RArsoN, W. WALTER HENDERSON.

v Well pressed into thiscompartment, the hand-

